Kiel / IG: @HighSierraOverland

How did you meet/connect with OC Overland?

During one of OC Overland’s trips to the Oregon Trail, TailsOnTheTrail reached out to me about places to disperse camp around Sequoia National Park as that was an area I frequented a lot. We met up a few weeks later, along with other OC Overland members Soso and Ghostwerks. I took them into the park via an off-road back entrance that most people don’t know about. From there we went straight to our campsite TailsOnTheTrail had researched as the guys had been driving for nearly 6 hours.

The next day we adventured down some more off-roads, and eventually took on the Black Diamond, Buck Rock Jeep Trail, which to me appeared to be seriously hard. In the end, thanks to some spotting from the guys I was able to complete it and realized it wasn’t all that bad. That ultimately set me up for all future trips I’d take.

What do you feel/think about OC Overland?

OC Overland is easily the best group of people I’ve been around. Being new to off-roading the group has taken me in since day one as if I’ve been there since the formation of the group. They taught me a lot about off-roading, the do’s and don’ts, how to approach certain angles, along with what gear to buy and what to not waste your money on. There’s no ‘new kid’ school feeling when going to one of the large overlanding trips. Everyone treats everyone the same, shares drinks, food, stories, etc. For someone who has a bit of anxiety with large crowds, I didn’t have that issue at all when attending their trips.

What sets OC Overland apart from other “groups?”

The fact that everyone treats everyone the same is probably the biggest thing. I’ve been to a few other meets where some just didn’t like newer people, or at least wouldn’t talk to them, and others where if you didn’t have every light bar and recovery option you must not know what you are doing. There’s no feeling of “not being good enough” with OC Overland, it’s really one big family. They make sure to take care of you on trips, and help you when needed. Besides trips they are big in the community in raising money for great causes, feeding the less fortunate, having trail day clean ups, and a lot more.